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Since that time the education center has strived to tutor the community’s children in hopes that one day they receive high school diplomas and go off to college to earn degrees.

In 2005, thanks to donations by individuals, businesses and churches, the nonprofit center moved into a new 3,500-square-foot facility just a few blocks from the previous location.

Since the center has been open, the Joneses have provided education to children to keep them off the streets, which early on were known for drugs and crime. Today, the area is being transformed into a more wholesome and safe community.

On Saturday, inside the North Hall banquet room at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion, the public will gather to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Joneses’ dedication to the community. The four-hour event starts at 6 p.m. and is free to the public.

“When you see some of the children, and what they have been through — how those boys became men, girls became women — it is phenomenal,” said Catherine Jones, now 59. “Truly, they (the children and young adults) are the ones that need to be celebrated on Saturday.”

Calvin was a Title I tutor for three years at Evergreen Elementary School, beginning about 1990.

Back then, there were several dozen shotgun houses that made up Busbee Quarters. One of those homes was a known crack house, a place where parents told their children to avoid because of the “crack monsters” inside.

Parents of Evergreen’s children often asked Calvin Jones back then about what he could do to help the community, specifically the children.

It was in 1993 or so when the crack dealer in the old home was arrested. That’s when Calvin and Catherine Jones jumped at the chance to turn it into a youth learning center.

The home was only 600 square feet, but 45 children — some as young as 4 — crowded inside to learn their ABCs, how to read, and other activities.

For 11 years, the one-time crack house was a symbol to the community that children were not going to be lost to crime.

Back in the early 2000s, Calvin Jones often walked along Northwest 17th Avenue, a block outside Busbee Quarters, and asked God to find a way for him to find the money to buy land to build a bigger facility.

Within a few years, thanks to many individual donations, he was able to purchase a half block of lots to build the facility.

At the time, Shirley Ausley of the Ausley Construction family was a volunteer. She asked Calvin Jones if he felt a bigger place was needed.

“I told her I was happy with what we had,” said Calvin Jones, who said Shirley Ausley then told him to meet with her son, Ken Ausley, and an architect.

It was April Fool’s Day in 2005 when Calvin met with the men at Harry’s Seafood, Bar & Grille downtown. That’s when they told him they planned to build a 3,500-square-foot facility for the Joneses on the lots purchased by the nonprofit.

“I thought since it was April 1 they were pulling my leg,” he remembered. “That’s when they pulled out a stack of plans and showed me what they wanted to do. It was for real.”

By October 2005, the facility opened and that’s where the academy has been serving children — at least 1,000 in 20 years — ever since.

As soon as the center opened, Catherine Jones said, Busbee Quarters residents were afraid to walk out of their front door because “they may get hit by a bullet or confront an addict looking for drugs.”

Marcus Hagins, 21, remembers those days well. He, along with a brother and a sister, started going to the facility in about 1998. The neighborhood was so dangerous his parents would only let them play outside if they had adult supervision.

Hagins said he loved going to the center. He said he learned his ABCs there and the Joneses often dropped by his house to bring him books to read.

Hagins later asked the Joneses to be his godparents. By high school, Hagins was named a first-team, all-state defensive player, as well as Marion County’s defensive player of the year. He graduated from Vanguard High School in 2011.

Hagins is now a senior at Florida Atlantic University, where he attends under a full scholarship. He is studying communications and plans to work in sports media at a college.

He said the center played a huge role in his success, including shaping his attitude.

“There were some bad, bad kids at the center,” Hagins said. “I used have a bad temper, but they instilled in me to always have a positive attitude.”

Standing nearby Hagins on Wednesday at the center was Robert Dickson, 21, a 2011 Forest High School graduate. He remembered the Joneses would always meet him at his home every day in the late 1990s and walk him to the center.

Today, Dickson is a senior criminal justice major at Bethune-Cookman University who plans to go to law school.

“It meant everything to me,” Dickson said, “They gave us the support we needed to be successful.”

Catherine Jones smiled at the thought that six of her first wave of students from the 1990s have now graduated college. There are two dozen more in college. Nearly all of those who are old enough to have graduated high school earned high school diplomas.

“I see them all over, working good jobs and they are now paying taxes in our community,” she said. “That is what makes me smile the most.”

Joe Callahan can be reached at 867-4113 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JoeOcalaNews.

<p>It has been 20 years since Calvin and Catherine Jones opened the Skill Day Center Academy in a former crack house in the low-income Busbee Quarters housing development in northwest Ocala.</p><p>Since that time the education center has strived to tutor the community's children in hopes that one day they receive high school diplomas and go off to college to earn degrees.</p><p>In 2005, thanks to donations by individuals, businesses and churches, the nonprofit center moved into a new 3,500-square-foot facility just a few blocks from the previous location.</p><p>Since the center has been open, the Joneses have provided education to children to keep them off the streets, which early on were known for drugs and crime. Today, the area is being transformed into a more wholesome and safe community.</p><p>On Saturday, inside the North Hall banquet room at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion, the public will gather to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Joneses' dedication to the community. The four-hour event starts at 6 p.m. and is free to the public.</p><p>“When you see some of the children, and what they have been through — how those boys became men, girls became women — it is phenomenal,” said Catherine Jones, now 59. “Truly, they (the children and young adults) are the ones that need to be celebrated on Saturday.”</p><p>Calvin Jones, 59, Catherine's husband of nearly 37 years, recalled humble beginnings.</p><p>Calvin was a Title I tutor for three years at Evergreen Elementary School, beginning about 1990.</p><p>Back then, there were several dozen shotgun houses that made up Busbee Quarters. One of those homes was a known crack house, a place where parents told their children to avoid because of the “crack monsters” inside.</p><p>Parents of Evergreen's children often asked Calvin Jones back then about what he could do to help the community, specifically the children.</p><p>It was in 1993 or so when the crack dealer in the old home was arrested. That's when Calvin and Catherine Jones jumped at the chance to turn it into a youth learning center.</p><p>The home was only 600 square feet, but 45 children — some as young as 4 — crowded inside to learn their ABCs, how to read, and other activities.</p><p>For 11 years, the one-time crack house was a symbol to the community that children were not going to be lost to crime.</p><p>Back in the early 2000s, Calvin Jones often walked along Northwest 17th Avenue, a block outside Busbee Quarters, and asked God to find a way for him to find the money to buy land to build a bigger facility.</p><p>Within a few years, thanks to many individual donations, he was able to purchase a half block of lots to build the facility.</p><p>At the time, Shirley Ausley of the Ausley Construction family was a volunteer. She asked Calvin Jones if he felt a bigger place was needed.</p><p>“I told her I was happy with what we had,” said Calvin Jones, who said Shirley Ausley then told him to meet with her son, Ken Ausley, and an architect.</p><p>It was April Fool's Day in 2005 when Calvin met with the men at Harry's Seafood, Bar & Grille downtown. That's when they told him they planned to build a 3,500-square-foot facility for the Joneses on the lots purchased by the nonprofit.</p><p>“I thought since it was April 1 they were pulling my leg,” he remembered. “That's when they pulled out a stack of plans and showed me what they wanted to do. It was for real.”</p><p>By October 2005, the facility opened and that's where the academy has been serving children — at least 1,000 in 20 years — ever since.</p><p>As soon as the center opened, Catherine Jones said, Busbee Quarters residents were afraid to walk out of their front door because “they may get hit by a bullet or confront an addict looking for drugs.”</p><p>Marcus Hagins, 21, remembers those days well. He, along with a brother and a sister, started going to the facility in about 1998. The neighborhood was so dangerous his parents would only let them play outside if they had adult supervision.</p><p>Hagins said he loved going to the center. He said he learned his ABCs there and the Joneses often dropped by his house to bring him books to read.</p><p>Hagins later asked the Joneses to be his godparents. By high school, Hagins was named a first-team, all-state defensive player, as well as Marion County's defensive player of the year. He graduated from Vanguard High School in 2011.</p><p>Hagins is now a senior at Florida Atlantic University, where he attends under a full scholarship. He is studying communications and plans to work in sports media at a college.</p><p>He said the center played a huge role in his success, including shaping his attitude.</p><p>“There were some bad, bad kids at the center,” Hagins said. “I used have a bad temper, but they instilled in me to always have a positive attitude.”</p><p>Standing nearby Hagins on Wednesday at the center was Robert Dickson, 21, a 2011 Forest High School graduate. He remembered the Joneses would always meet him at his home every day in the late 1990s and walk him to the center.</p><p>Today, Dickson is a senior criminal justice major at Bethune-Cookman University who plans to go to law school.</p><p>“It meant everything to me,” Dickson said, “They gave us the support we needed to be successful.”</p><p>Catherine Jones smiled at the thought that six of her first wave of students from the 1990s have now graduated college. There are two dozen more in college. Nearly all of those who are old enough to have graduated high school earned high school diplomas.</p><p>“I see them all over, working good jobs and they are now paying taxes in our community,” she said. “That is what makes me smile the most.”</p><p><i>Joe Callahan can be reached at 867-4113 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JoeOcalaNews.</i></p>